A collaborative investigation by PREMIUM TIMES, The Examination, The New York Times and Truth Reporting Post into lead poisoning linked to battery recycling in Nigeria has been named finalist in two categories of the 2026 Online Journalism Awards.
The investigation was named as finalist for the Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award, Large Newsroom, and Excellence in Collaboration and Partnerships.
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In the large newsroom investigative journalism category, the investigation is competing against entries from Reuters, Bloomberg News, among others.
For the collaboration and partnerships category, it is competing against projects by NBC News Digital and Forbidden Stories.
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The Online Journalism Awards are international digital journalism prizes administered by the Online News Association, which honour digital excellence and innovation from newsrooms around the world, including international and non-U.S. media outlets.
The investigative journalism category considers original reporting, public interest, creative use of digital platforms and evidence of impact arising from the journalism.
Investigation exposed lead poisoning in Ogijo
The collaborative investigation examined the health and environmental consequences of lead-acid battery recycling in parts of Africa, with PREMIUM TIMES reporting extensively from Ogijo, a community in Ogun State where several battery recycling factories operate.
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The reporting found that residents and workers around the factories had been exposed to dangerous levels of lead pollution.
As part of the investigation, blood and environmental testing involving people living and working around the recycling facilities were commissioned.
Seventy people volunteered for blood tests, with seven out of every 10 recording harmful levels of lead. Every worker tested was found to have been poisoned, according to the investigation.
More than half of the children tested also had lead levels high enough to cause lifelong brain damage.
Soil and dust samples collected around the factories showed extensive contamination, with some samples recording lead concentrations far above levels generally regarded as hazardous. More than 20,000 people were estimated to live within a mile of the factories.
PREMIUM TIMES published its Nigerian investigation in two parts. The first report, “Lead In Their Blood: How Battery Recyclers Are Poisoning Nigerians,” documented the health risks faced by residents and workers in Ogijo.
The second, “Poor oversight, regulatory failure expose Nigerians to slow death from battery recycling,” examined failures by regulatory authorities and the conditions that allowed the hazardous operations to continue.
The investigation also examined the international supply chain, tracing Nigerian recycled lead to overseas buyers and the global automotive industry.
The broader project found that recycled lead from Nigerian factories entered international supply chains used to produce car batteries.
The report captured how one American battery manufacturer, East Penn Manufacturing, had been buying Nigerian lead through the global trading company Trafigura. Following the reporting, the company said it would stop importing Nigerian lead and introduce additional scrutiny of its lead purchases.
Impact & Recognitions
The reporting also prompted a series of actions by Nigerian authorities.
Following the publication, the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) shut down battery recycling facilities in Ogijo over environmental concerns.
The Ogun State Government also announced measures in response to the findings, including plans for lead testing among residents.
The House of Representatives subsequently called for an investigation into the lead poisoning concerns in Ogijo and demanded an emergency response.
The state government and Lagos State Government also began a joint investigation into the pollution threat, while the Ogun government moved to suspend lead exports and shut affected battery recycling plants.
Nigerian authorities subsequently moved to close factories linked to the US automotive industry amid the lead poisoning investigation.
The reporting project has since been recognised for its depth and impact, winning the major prize as PREMIUM TIMES’ stand-out report of 2025.
The project has also received other international recognition, especially in the United States.
The project won the Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting from USC Annenberg and the John B. Oakes Award for environmental journalism.
The project also won the Edward R. Murrow Awards for Investigative Reporting (Large Digital Organization) and Best Video/Documentary about international affairs from the Overseas Press Club. It equally won the Scripps Howard Journalism Awards, honoured with both the Impact Award and the Excellence in Environmental Reporting award.
READ ALSO: PREMIUM TIMES honours outstanding journalists at annual awards ceremony
In The Gerald Loeb Awards, it was named a finalist in the Video News category.
Participants’ Profiles
PREMIUM TIMES’ participation in the award-winning collaborative project was led by Oladeinde Olawoyin, the Business and Economy Editor of the newspaper, and Folashade Ogunrinde, an award-winning investigative reporter.
Mr Olawoyin, a recent fellow of the United States’ Government International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP), leads multiple projects at PREMIUM TIMES, in addition to mentorship and supervision of reporters. His recent reporting and research interests sit at the intersections of media framing and how artificial intelligence (AI) impacts the future of work, especially in the informal economy in Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa, and parts of the global south.
Ms Ogunrinde is an award-winning investigative journalist recognised for her work in governance, accountability, and inclusive development.
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